Well, Week 1 is in the books and many have already been knocked out of their NFL survivor pools after the Bengals lost at home to the Patriots as the biggest favorite of the week. While they were one of our top options, we ultimately pivoted to the Seahawks in the Circa Survivor contest, liking how the schedule set up better by saving Cincinnati, while more than one-third of the contest was eliminated on the Bengals loss alone.

Now we move on to Week 2, where there is again one clear option in the market favored by over a touchdown in the Baltimore Ravens. But there are also several favorites of 6.5 to 7 points, so the people who pivoted away from the Bengals in Week 1 may look to do the same and hope the Raiders can eliminate another big chunk of survivor pools for the second time in two weeks.

When looking at your options for Week 2, it's important to project out the rest of the schedule (hence the point of this weekly column). It's also important to know the format of your pool, as Circa Survivor adds two standalone slates for Thanksgiving and Christmas. While I think there are solid options outside of the Ravens this week, I would avoid taking the Chargers against the Panthers.

The case for the Chargers is easy: the Panthers offense looked as bad as it was last year in Week 1, and the defense is in an even worse spot with Brian Burns traded and Derrick Brown now out for the year. That should lead some people to try and steal a win with the Chargers even though they're on the road, as that line has ballooned to the same range as the other non-Ravens games on the card. However, that valuation for the Chargers on the road would make them a top-10 team according to my power ratings, and I don't think they proved to be even above average after a ho-hum win over the Raiders that might have been a loss had Antonio Pierce not given up in the fourth quarter and tried to win the game instead of punting on fourth-and-1 in Chargers territory. I think there are times where it makes sense to risk it by backing a road team on a tough slate, but this isn't the scenario where it's worth doing so.

Why listen to me? I'm 636-534-34 (+4899) on ATS picks over the last seven years and even better with my top five picks each week, going 428-327-25 (56.7%) over the last nine years in the Las Vegas ATS contests. While this doesn't involve picking against the spread, I do believe by applying the strategies I've developed to have long-term success on those picks to survivor pools, we'll be in the best position to outlast the competition this season.  

Below, you'll find my top options for this week as well as a tiered set of options for every week over the rest of the season, including breakouts for the Thanksgiving/Black Friday and Christmas slates. Let's dig in.

What are the best options to use in survivor pools in Week 2? And which teams should be saved to use later in the season? ... Join SportsLine right now to see NFL Survivor Pool strategy from the expert who's 636-534-34 on ATS picks from 2017 to 2023, returning almost 50 units, and who said to fade the Bengals last week!